News
by Our Readers | Jan 26, 2012 | News
A “Shut It Down” Birthday Celebration January 18 was a chilly and blustery day, although sunny. Along with 13 other women in the Shut It Down Affinity Group from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, dressed all in black and wearing white death masks,...
by Stephanie Kraft | Jan 26, 2012 | News
In a time when social and economic mobility in the U.S. are not what they used to be—for some time now, studies have shown that Americans are less likely than Canadians or Europeans to better their personal finances by as much as their parents...
by Tom Vannah | Jan 26, 2012 | News
As the saying goes, you can’t fight city hall. In Northampton, that old adage took on special meaning recently when the city’s new mayor attempted to hire a new city solicitor. The lawyer Northampton mayor David Narkewicz wanted came highly recommended,...
by Our Readers | Jan 26, 2012 | News
Follow the Money On Jan. 21, the nation marks the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a decision that enabled corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence federal...
by Stephanie Kraft | Feb 2, 2012 | News
PIPA, the Protect Intellectual Property Act, and SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, bills designed to crack down on piracy on the Internet, were sent back to the drawing boards recently following an outcry from Internet providers—including large...
by James Heflin | Feb 2, 2012 | News
You’ve probably heard by now that many corners of the Internet (and at least one major thoroughfare, Google) went totally dark or self-censored part of their content on Jan. 18 in protest of two proposed laws, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP...
by Maureen Turner | Feb 2, 2012 | News
Look, some of us need a no more elaborate pitch to buy Girl Scout cookies than those two glorious words: Thin Mints. But if you like a side of social justice with your Peanut Butter Patties, chew on this: by loading up on the sweet stuff this year, you are also...
by Our Readers | Feb 2, 2012 | News
Ovation for Newt Ashes always fly back into the face of the one who blows them. During the Republican presidential debate held in South Carolina on Monday, January 16, Newton Leroy Gingrich (at long, long last) abruptly and pointedly demolished an attempt by a...
by Maureen Turner | Feb 2, 2012 | News
In late November, as they prepared to head into recess, members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed, with minimal fanfare, a bill that would dramatically change the commonwealth’s criminal justice system. Formally, the bill is called “An...
by Maureen Turner | Feb 7, 2012 | News
Michaelann Bewsee was feeling good the day after last week’s hearing of the Springfield Zoning Board of Appeals. The previous evening, the ZBA had issued a much-welcomed ruling on one of the more contentious issues to hit the city in years: a proposal to build a...
by Our Readers | Feb 9, 2012 | News
Local Boards Deal Setbacks to Biomass Plant On January 25, the Springfield Zoning Board of Appeals ruled in favor of the opponents of a 35-megawatt wood-burning power plant that the developer is trying to build in the city. This action came on the heels of the...
by Mark Roessler | Feb 9, 2012 | News
Two years ago, Parker Brothers celebrated “75 years of Monopoly” by releasing a new edition that featured a round board. “The world’s favorite family game brand continues to introduce innovative game play in 2010,” announced the press...
by Maureen Turner | Feb 9, 2012 | News
A new report from the Urban Institute finds that the “opportunity gap” between whites and Latinos is greater in Springfield than in any other city in the country. The study by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit looks at 100 metropolitan areas in the...
by Stephanie Kraft | Feb 9, 2012 | News
Unheard in the echo chamber that trumpets every yard gained or lost in the scrimmage for the Republican presidential nomination is the quiet voice of a third-party campaigner, Green Party veteran Jill Stein. Stein, who lives in Lexington, is well known in the...
by Pete Redington | Feb 9, 2012 | News
The school board of Tucson, Ariz. recently banned several books that had been used by its Mexican American Studies program, including Zapata’s Disciple by local UMass professor Martín Espada. Under threat of losing millions of dollars in educational...
by Maureen Turner | Feb 16, 2012 | News
In a way, Andrea Nuciforo’s Congressional campaign kickoff event last week was a bit beside the point. After all, Nuciforo, a former state senator from the Berkshire District, first announced his intention to run for Massachusetts’ 1st Congressional seat...
by Stephanie Kraft | Feb 16, 2012 | News
At the end of January, President Obama was on the Web hosting a Google+ hangout when one guest complained that her husband, a semiconductor engineer, had been out of work for three years. She followed up by asking the president why visa programs for foreign workers...
by Our Readers | Feb 16, 2012 | News
9/11: They Can’t Stop Writing In his letter (January 26, 2012), Peter Williams stated, “For the record, the collapses of World Trade Centers 1 and 2 were not identical to a controlled demolition.” In a sense, Mr. Williams is correct in that the Twin...
by Pete Redington | Feb 16, 2012 | News
A class action lawsuit against the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center (WCC) in Chicopee, filed by women who claim their rights were routinely violated when they were videotaped by male guards while being strip searched, is headed for...
by Maureen Turner | Feb 16, 2012 | News
After initially declining an invitation, Sen. Scott Brown has apparently decided he can find some time to meet with the Springfield NAACP branch. In December, the branch invited Massachusetts’ junior senator to meet with members at a “town hall”...
by Maureen Turner | Feb 21, 2012 | News
The National Priorities Project’s mission sounds simple enough: to make “complex federal budget information transparent and accessible so people can prioritize and influence how their tax dollars are spent.” Easier said than done. The federal budget...
by Stephanie Kraft | Feb 23, 2012 | News
Within three years, we may be seeing thousands of drones in the skies over America. Congress has appropriated $63 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration for the next four years in a bill that requires the FAA to replace its radar-based traffic control system...
by Our Readers | Feb 23, 2012 | News
Seeking Love in “Cosmic Crap Shoot” On Valentine’s Day I took much pleasure and selfish interest in Eric Goldscheider’s revealing take on his online dating story, “Lilac, Where Are You?” (February 9, 2012). His awkward and honest...
by Mark Roessler | Feb 23, 2012 | News
On January 31, 2012, as parents arrived to collect their children from the two-room school house in the center of South Egremont, teacher Julie Milani was outside to greet them. One after the other, the topic of discussion was the same: who was going to the meeting...
by Maureen Turner | Feb 23, 2012 | News
Last week marked the second anniversary of a long-standing, if one-sided, lunch date between U.S. Rep. Richie Neal and a group of his constituents. On the third Wednesday of each month, Progressive Democrats of America holds a noontime “brown bag lunch...
by James Heflin | Mar 2, 2012 | News
For much of its run, Easthampton’s PACE (Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton) seemed like a scrappy contender on the brink of solidifying its presence on the Valley’s arts scene. It’s hard to believe that, in fact, PACE’s 10th anniversary...
by Maureen Turner | Mar 2, 2012 | News
In 1995, the city of Springfield passed a strongly worded ordinance that required most municipal workers to live in the city. This wasn’t the first time the issue of employee residency had reared its head; the matter had been kicking around City Hall for...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 2, 2012 | News
“Remember, remember the fifth of November.” In the U.S. last year, that was Bank Transfer Day. On that day and before it, many Americans moved their bank deposits out of banks with $10 billion or more in assets and into credit unions and smaller banks....
by Our Readers | Mar 2, 2012 | News
Nuclear Laundry and Local Health Thank you for this compelling and critical expose [“Caron Lands on Park Place,” February 23, 2012]. I urge you to follow your article above with public education on the medical effects of ionizing radiation and what...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 2, 2012 | News
How much is six-tenths of an acre of a city park in Springfield worth? Over the last two years, one particular tract of that size has been worth quite a lot to former state representative Paul Caron, now a lobbyist. According to state records, Caron’s firm, Paul...
by Markos Moulitsas | Mar 6, 2012 | News
In a political season full of stunning twists and turns, the latest self-immolation by Republicans over the issue of birth control trumps all others. You’d think that anti-abortion groups would be proponents of contraceptive availability and use, as a means of...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 9, 2012 | News
“The Secret Hell of Online Shopping” is the promo for the cover story in the March-April issue of Mother Jones. What’s detailed there by reporter Mac McClelland, who went undercover as a worker at Amalgamated Product Giant Shipping Worldwide Inc., is...
by Maureen Turner | Mar 9, 2012 | News
Earlier this week, Dick Evans headed to the Statehouse for a legislative hearing on a bill he drafted that would legalize marijuana and make it subject to the same kinds of government oversight that are now applied to alcohol. It was the third time Evans’ bill...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 9, 2012 | News
The Massachusetts Legislature has been lacking creativity lately. It’s been a kitchen that serves up left-over, warmed-over solutions to problems. You’d think the combined brain power of a state like the commonwealth, crowned by a city like Boston, could...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 9, 2012 | News
A steady drumbeat of protest aimed at shutting down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, rather than having it remain in operation another 20 years under a renewed license, is planned for March by a coalition of groups led by Safe and Green and the Sage Alliance....
by Maureen Turner | Mar 9, 2012 | News
In June of 2010, Tony Hayward, CEO of BP, appeared before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to answer questions about the massive spilling of oil into the Gulf of Mexico after a BP well exploded two months earlier. Hayward was just beginning to speak when...
by Our Readers | Mar 13, 2012 | News
Help for New Mothers: Getting Out the Word Thank you to Maureen Turner for writing a strong article on perinatal emotional complications like depression and anxiety in a way that truly educates the community and connects all of us with the work that is being done on...
by Maureen Turner | Mar 13, 2012 | News
Mitt Romney wasn’t the only Massachusetts politician celebrating a win here on Super Tuesday. While Romney’s 72 percent victory in the Massachusetts GOP primary got all the attention, Jill Stein of Lexington won handily on the Green-Rainbow Party’s...
by Maureen Turner | Mar 13, 2012 | News
Last month, Paki Wieland returned home to Northampton from Bahrain, where she’d spent a short period behind bars after being arrested during a pro-democracy demonstration. Wieland, a veteran humanrights activist whose work has taken her around the world, was in...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 16, 2012 | News
Bonnie MacCracken is on a mission to help victims of “fraudclosure” stand up for their rights. MacCracken, a land title examiner based in Amherst who is running for Hampshire County Register of Deeds, wants people to know that foreclosure fraud is not just...
by Cathy Young | Mar 16, 2012 | News
While Ron Paul was the only presidential candidate to notch not a single win on Super Tuesday, he and his zealous supporters still are widely expected to be a strong presence at the GOP convention. Many applaud the Texas congressman for bringing a unique and...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 16, 2012 | News
Who wants a war with Iran? Not the Israeli people, according to a poll done late in February by Israel’s Dahaf Institute. Only 19 percent of Israelis surveyed said they would support an attack against Iran without the backing of the United States. Even with U.S....
by Maureen Turner | Mar 16, 2012 | News
A study released last week found potentially harmful chemicals in a number of common products, from cosmetics to household cleaners—and what’s worse, in many cases, the chemicals weren’t even listed on the products’ labels. The study, published...
by Our Readers | Mar 23, 2012 | News
Post-Partum Mom “Struggling” I have post-partum depression. And I am struggling because the resources for women like me are so scarce, as explained in “Wellness: Motherhelp” [March 1, 2012]. Sadly, I feel that I am on the verge of a crisis...
by Maureen Turner | Mar 23, 2012 | News
They look innocuous enough: a kid’s ring with a colorful, cartoony owl; a pair of beaded bracelets, one reading “Best,” the other “Friends,” to be shared by devoted BFFs. But the jewelry, and many similar pieces made for children, are...
by Maureen Turner | Mar 23, 2012 | News
Last Wednesday, a group of social justice activists marched on the Springfield coffee house opened in 2010 by the notorious anti-gay evangelical minister Scott Lively. But first, they gathered at the federal courthouse just up State Street from the coffee shop to mark...
by Ted Rall | Mar 23, 2012 | News
No bank balance. Nothing in your wallet. “I’m broke,” you say. “I need a job.” Or perhaps you have a job. Then you say: “I’m broke. I need a better job.” But you don’t need a job. (Unless you like sitting at a...
by Our Readers | Mar 23, 2012 | News
Pot Legalization Strategy Self-Defeating I think you have to look at the strategy being used to understand why legalization [of marijuana] is not getting anywhere [“Pot Tolerance,” March 8, 2012]. What do the proponents of legalization do? They lobby and...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 30, 2012 | News
In an action heavily influenced by the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, last Thursday more than 1,000 people marched three miles to the Brattleboro offices of Entergy, owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in nearby Vernon, Vt. The event...
by Maureen Turner | Mar 30, 2012 | News
This spring, the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department will break ground on an expansion project at the women’s jail it operates in Chicopee, increasing the number of medium-security cells from 120 to 184. The project has been a long time coming, in the view...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 30, 2012 | News
The death of seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African American teenager shot dead in Sanford, Fla. as he was returning to his father’s girlfriend’s house with a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea from a 7-Eleven store, won’t be...
by Tom Vannah | Mar 30, 2012 | News
It’s a perennial space shortage in the garage attic that leads me into a week or two of bittersweet nostalgia each spring. This year, I pulled several armfuls of old magazines and newspapers from the boxes where they’ve been awaiting a second read for...
by Our Readers | Mar 30, 2012 | News
Advocate Offers “Apologia” for Iran My! what an apologia for the Islamic Republic by a spokesperson for the “People’s Republic” of the Pioneer Valley [“Can We Talk About Iran?”, March 15, 2012]. I recommend those interested to...
by Tom Sturm | Mar 30, 2012 | News
The effort to bring a vote on the Updated Bottle Bill to the floor of the Massachusetts state Legislature has been delayed once again by the Joint Committee on Telecom, Utilities and Energy. On March 20 the committee extended a review period for the bill (H890 in the...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 30, 2012 | News
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on whether the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare,” is constitutional—and Republicans outshout each other with vows to repeal it—millions are benefiting from provisions of the law that are...
by Tom Sturm | Apr 14, 2012 | News
Agriculture giant Monsanto has recently threatened to sue the state of Vermont over a push for legislation requiring the point-of-sale labeling of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) sold as food or in food or medicinal products. The bill in question, H-722, is...
by Maureen Turner | Apr 14, 2012 | News
On April 1, hundreds of people gathered at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Adams for Palm Sunday mass. But the faithful at St. Stan’s weren’t just celebrating the beginning of Holy Week; they were also celebrating the reopening of their church, which had...
by Stephanie Kraft | Apr 14, 2012 | News
This week may open a new chapter in the movement begun by Occupy Wall Street. And it may change the direction of American politics and the American economy. The landscape of activism we’re used to involves multiple organizations working on a myriad of issues:...
by Stephanie Kraft | Apr 14, 2012 | News
As you drive along Birnie Avenue in Springfield, it’s a surprise to see a school—the German Gerena Elementary School—under the shadow of I-91 and sitting on low ground not far from the Connecticut River. The situation is so inconvenient for walking...
by Our Readers | Apr 14, 2012 | News
Martin-Zimmerman Case Not About Racism Stop conjuring up the ghost of Trayvon Martin to suit a political agenda [“Caught in the Backfire,” March 29, 2012]. Trayvon Martin was unarmed but not “unoffending” when he was shot, he was beating...
